Nice Allies Mr. Bush

Isn't this just so disturbing? We have so mis-managed foreign policy that the country we "liberated" is being critical of us to the World. I think Iraq will be next. Nice planning; great diplomacy. See this:

Karzai says U.S. underfunding Afghanistan
The $300 billion the United States has spent in Iraq could have been better used stabilizing Afghanistan against the surge of the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

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Lets see........the President of Afghanistan is wishing we would spend more money on HIS country instead of Iraq.
-What's so surprising about that? The truth is, no matter how much we gave them, it wouldn't be enough.

Nor would I have led the nation into a war that was not prepared for by the commander in chief and his cronies who wanted to make some more money.

Money was the bottom line on this war and nothing else.

W has ruined our status in the war, and today we are learning that IRAQ is not a huge breeding ground for terrorists because of us just being there, and that did not take any kind of genius to figure that one out!

If you're getting money from what you think is an unlimited supply, you ask for more. Exactly what Karzai is doing. He'll have to learn that there are limits to American generosity.

On the other hand (as my granddad used to say) when you consider taking on a job, either plan to do it well, or don't do it at all. Afghanistan and Iraq are two jobs that the US (rightly or wrongly) took on. It's doing both of them half-well (not enough money or manpower). And it shows.

I really wish (ok, fantasy time) that we could elect a President with a supporting Congress who would not only collect on all of the money that we've "loaned" out since WWII, but stop sending money to anyone and everyone. If a loan company can make you jump thru 47 hoops to just get a $1500 signature loan, and sign 8-10 legal documents to ensure repayment, why can't we have the same requirements for other countries?

If what we are providing is nebulous, and what they are using it for is just as nebulous, and the repayment or profit plan is nonexistent or fraught with "unless" - es, than we need to rethink how we do business with other countries.

I wouldn't expect Karzai to say otherwise, but there's no question Afghanistan could use more money and it would have been better spent there than in Iraq. As I remember it Karzai actually said that if he had 300 Billion Afghanistan would be paradise. He wasn't saying give me 300 billion, he was just suggesting they needed more money to get on their feet and stabilize the country.

Of course with just 3-4 Billion a year we could wipe out 90% of the poppy production in the World --- I don't doubt some of that 90% might pop up in other parts of the world, but then all the distribution systems would have to be revamped etc. If we were really serious about a war on drugs ...

"Way down deep I'm very superficial" - ALEA IACTA EST - "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

"If what we are providing is nebulous, and what they are using it for is just as nebulous, and the repayment or profit plan is nonexistent or fraught with "unless" - es, than we need to rethink how we do business with other countries."

Amen! I Couldn't have said it better!

However, the immediate criticism of such an idea is that Terrorism isn't caused by things like radical Islam, but rather by poverty. The rest of the world doesn't hate us because they want to be us, they hate us because we don't give them enough money. You'd never hear me say something like that, but those are the arguments some people consider logical.

I would bet that the president of Afganistan is partial to his own country so his opinion is kind of skewed in my opinion. Either way, I believe the phrase is "nation-building" and I am pretty sure I voted for someone who said they weren't interested in doing that .... oh wait that was before we got 2 planes lobbed through a major financial district in NYC. /ponder

Tom, I think the world has enough reasons to hate us aside from "we're not giving them enough money" or "they want to be like us". With power comes responsibility and with responsibility comes expectations and disappointment. I'm sure they could easily come up with a TOP 10 list. lol

"Way down deep I'm very superficial" - ALEA IACTA EST - "What we do in life echoes in eternity."